RELATIVE WILT-INDUCING CAPACITY OF THE CULTURE FILTRATES OF ISOLATES OF FUSARIUM-OXYSPORUM F SP RADICIS-LYCOPERSICI, THE TOMATO CROWN AND ROOT-ROT PATHOGEN

Cell-free 30-day-old culture filtrates of 24 isolates of Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. radicis-lycopersici (FORL) differed considerably in their capacity to induce wilting in 28-day-old tomato seedlings and to inhibiting the germination of tomato seeds. The wilt effects ranged from mild on leaves and lateral stems, to total collapse of the seedlings in 24 h. Wilt, leaf curl and leaf chlorosis, appearing in this sequence, were the three symptoms elicited by the culture filtrates. Boiled and non-boiled filtrates elicited similar symptoms. The high wilt capacity filtrates were pH 7.2; the others were generally below pH 6. The high wilt capacity filtrates showed polyphenoloxidase activity but the overall pattern of this activity did not correlate consistently with wilt capacity. The majority of the lower wilt capacity filtrates showed a net inhibition of dihydroxy-phenylalanine (DOPA) oxidation. The study suggests that the symptoms in the tomato seedlings were elicited by toxins in the culture filtrates. Further, it appears that the differences obtained in the wilt capacity of filtrates from the isolates were due, at least in part, to inherent differences in the concentration of the toxic factors. The rapidity of the onset of wilt, the total collapse of filtrate-treated seedlings and the absence of fungi in wilted seedlings suggest further that the operative mechanisms are physiological and biochemical and not impairment of the seedlings' translocation system by physical blockage with mycelia.